The sermon by Peter Allison, titled 'Effectually Called,' explores the transformative power of Jesus' call to sinners, using the story of Levi, a tax collector, as a central example. Levi, who was despised by society akin to historical figures like Nazi collaborators, experienced a radical transformation upon Jesus' invitation to 'follow me.' The sermon emphasizes that tax collectors were viewed with contempt, similar to traitors during wartime, due to their collaboration with oppressive regimes and their unjust methods of tax collection. Levi's story is a testament to the concept of being 'effectually called,' where Jesus' call opened his eyes to his sinful condition, leading to a complete renewal of his will and priorities. This transformation highlights that the outward call of the gospel is not sufficient alone; it requires an inward work by the Holy Spirit to bring about true change. Levi's new life in Christ was marked by a desire to share the gospel with his former colleagues, illustrating the burden for the lost that accompanies genuine conversion. The sermon concludes with a call for listeners to recognize their own sinfulness and respond to Jesus' call, assuring that those who do so will receive forgiveness and eternal life.

Reading is Luke chapter 5. I'd like Let's read verses 27 to 32. After these things he went out and saw a tax collector named Levi sitting at the tax office and he said to him, follow me. So he left all, arose and followed him. Then Levi gave him a great feast in his own house and there were a number of great tax collectors, a great number of tax collectors and others who sat down with them.

And their scribes and the Pharisees complained against his disciples, saying, Why do you eat and drink with tax collectors and sinners? Jesus answered and said to them, Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance. May Christ's words be sweeter than honey to our mouths. Almighty Father in heaven, we thank you for your word.

We thank you that it is true, that it is life-giving. We ask that you would Give us ears to hear what your spirit says to your church. And I pray that you would sanctify these sinful lips, that they might proclaim what is holy, and that you would drive away the chaff And keep me from saying anything that is not true and right and beautiful. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.

Well, many historical treatments of the American War for Independence will point out how poorly the British, or the Redcoats as they were sometimes derogatorily called, how poorly they were regarded by the patriots in America. But you know there was a group of people that were disliked even more. They were the fellow citizens who collaborated with the British, the British sympathizers, the loyalists. The British soldiers were the enemy, But the Americans who collaborated with them were regarded as traitors and held in the greatest contempt. It was the same in World War II.

The citizens of the occupied territories who collaborated with the Nazi occupation forces were despised even more than the Nazis themselves. In World War II the exile Czech government carried out the assassination of one of the most powerful Nazi officers of the day, Reinhard Heydrich, who was the top Nazi in the Czech Republic at the time and one of the most feared and one of the most powerful in all of the Nazi government, the Nazi regime. He was called the butcher of Prague because of his his actions against the citizens of that land, his cruelty to them. And the soldiers who carried out this assassination would have escaped if they hadn't been betrayed by one of their own fellow soldiers, a man by the name of Carol Kurda. For half a million marks, he betrayed his fellow soldiers.

And he was given a new identity, and a new life, and a German wife, but he earned the contempt, the greatest contempt, of all those who were loyal Czech patriots. And they didn't forget, If the Nazis had continued in power for decades, he might have gotten away entirely with it. But they didn't. And at the end of the war, just within two years of the war, they tracked him down, notwithstanding his new identity, arraigned him, tried him for treason, and executed him. The Jews of Jesus' day regarded the tax collectors, such as Levi, in very much the same way as the European resistance movement regarded the Nazi collaborators of their day.

See the tax collectors were considered the lowest of the low in terms of society. Tax collection in the Roman government was quite complicated and quite hierarchical, much like our tax collection is. You had high-level officials in Rome who contracted with the government and later became part of the payroll of the government, but they would take responsibility for collecting the taxes in a certain region, and they would in turn entrust that response to actual work to other tax collectors. And there were then in the local regions tax collectors who were responsible for actually collecting the taxes but often they would hire many people under them to do the actual collection, to actually sit in the toll houses. So Zacchaeus was probably one of these regional chief, he was called a chief collector, and Levi, he would have hired somebody like Levi to actually sit and collect the taxes.

You see, the way it worked in that day is every level collected their fee from the taxes that they collected. And they had the backing of the Roman army behind them. So you couldn't get revenge against these people. They had the might of the Roman Empire, the might of the Roman army behind them. Alfred Edersheim explains this system very helpfully and in a fair bit of detail.

And he explains how the Talmud recognizes or distinguished two different classes of tax collectors, or as the King James calls them, publicans. There was the tax gatherer, a tax collector who was general, the general collector, who collected direct taxes, like property taxes, income taxes, poll taxes, those are direct taxes per person, per property, and so on. And then there were the other tax collectors who collected the indirect, the excise taxes. And of the two, it was these customs tax collectors that were more greatly despised. Because their collection process was a lot more aggravating, a lot more humiliating, a lot more annoying.

And it was also a lot more liable to gross injustice and the theft that they were known for. You see these customs collectors, they collected taxes and duties on imports, on exports, and everything that was bought or sold on bridges, on roads, on harbors, on bridge dues, road dues. We call them tolls today, harbor dues. They invented taxations based on the number of axles or the number of wheels you had or the pack animals that you carried. They invented all sorts of methods of taxation and invented all sorts of taxes themselves.

Admission to markets, admission to bridges, crossing roads, pedestrians, crossing rivers, licenses to do all sorts of things. They could stop people at will on the road and They'd have to unload all their pack animals so they could inventory everything that was there and collect a tax of what they thought was appropriate for that. And so you can understand how not only were they hated because they were collaborating with the occupation army, not only were they hated because they were collecting taxes, you know, after who likes a tax collector of any sort, even if they are polite and taxes are quite limited. But these people were also quite annoying and mean in the way, and unjust often in the very way that they collected the taxes. You have to open up all of your goods, there's a lot of delays, a lot of hassle.

Private letters could even be searched, your contents, it's like the TSA searching you at the airport security. They can open up your bag and look through everything, whatever they want to look at. And take in basically whatever they wanted to take or assess. If you couldn't pay it, then they could just take your stuff as a down payment for it, for what you own, and hold it in hawk. And so these are people who had an occasion, an opportunity, to make a lot of money off of the backs of their fellow citizens.

And they could have the favor of the Roman rulers and the protection of the Roman army all at the same time. And so there was some allure here. If you were somebody who was looking out for number one, looking out to how you can get wealthy, how you can make a buck, and you don't care about other people, you don't care about justice, you don't care about oppressing them, but you're calloused toward the plight of other people, then this was a perfect place to be. What kind of people are willing to sell out their countrymen for their own financial gain? These are people that have little moral courage.

These are the criminal element. They have no problem hurting people, oppressing people, taking what isn't theirs. These were the prostitutes. They have no trouble taking other people's husbands and wives. They don't care about the grief and the harm that they're perpetrating by their actions.

These were the kind of people that were willing to become tax collectors, that were willing to sit at these toll booths on the main highways and thoroughfares, and stop people and accost them, and collect whatever they could from them, by intimidation, by fear. Tax collectors were so thoroughly despised and held in such despicable contempt that they weren't allowed to even testify in court because they were considered liars. The Talmud taught, and the Talmud is certainly no just standard, but this is what they taught, that This is what the Pharisees taught in their day, that even if a tax collector genuinely and truly repented, he should expect to immediately die. Because that would be evidence that his repentance was genuine. Since Even if he could turn from such a great evil, it would be impossible for him to practice, lay hold of anything good and practice anything good.

That is how the Jews regarded tax collectors. Like Carol Kurta, somebody who sold out his countrymen for gold. That was the person that Jesus saw that day sitting in his customs booth. Sitting at the tax office, sitting out in the road, oppressing people, getting wealthy off the backs of his fellow citizens. See Matthew, for that is who this Levi is, this is the Apostle who wrote the Gospel of Matthew and He doesn't really mention himself in that book, except we know in the list of the Apostles he mentions Judas and that he betrayed Jesus and also Matthew, who was a tax collector.

Matthew was everything that was represented in that leper. The one who was full of leprosy, completely corrupted, wholly polluted, And he represents everything, he's everything represented by the paralytic. He's completely helpless, unable to come to Jesus. He's pursuing his own agenda. He's pursuing his own goals, which is to get wealthy, and regardless of how he might do that or what the consequences are of getting his wealth.

He's apathetic to the oppression that he's perpetrating. He's apathetic to justice. He's apathetic to kindness. He's apathetic even to Christ. Remember, there were crowds that were following Jesus, that were coming to hear what he was saying, because he taught them very differently than the other people did.

Levi had certainly heard these reports. When Jesus came to town, Zacchaeus was interested enough that he went along that path where Jesus was going and climbed a tree so that he could see Jesus. But that's not Matthew. Matthew is sitting in his text booth. He hasn't come to see Jesus.

Jesus comes to him. He's heard. He's heard the message. He's heard the gospel. It's been proclaimed probably.

Everybody around him has heard it. Whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved. Whoever believes in him shall not perish but have everlasting life. Whoever believes in Him will have the remission of sins. If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead you will be saved.

The outward call of the gospel, that which you hear proclaimed in church every, hopefully every week, That which you read in the scriptures, that alone, just hearing that alone, is not sufficient to bring people to Jesus. Matthew remains sitting in his toll booth, apathetic to all that was going on around him, interested only in his own wealth, his own agenda, following his own self-interest, until Jesus comes to him and calls him. And then everything changes. See, when Jesus called him and said, follow me." Jesus was effectually calling him. And in effectually calling Levi, He opened Levi's eyes to see the sinfulness of his condition.

He opened his eyes to see the truth about who Jesus was. Levi, it says, Levi, it says, left all, rose up, and followed Jesus. He left everything, all of his job, his means of gaining wealth. And he followed Jesus because his eyes had been opened and he saw the truth for the first time about who Jesus was. The Messiah, the Son of God.

He was convinced and convicted of his own sinfulness, of his own misery. He looked at his position and he saw himself for what he really was, like that leper, corrupt, holy corrupt, in need of cleansing. And his very will was renewed when Jesus called him. He stopped doing what he had been wanting to do and started doing what before he didn't want to do. Now it's not like As is often characterized that that God doesn't save people who or at least that we teach that God doesn't save people who want to be saved or that God Saves people who don't want to be saved.

No, that's not what the scriptures teach Levi willingly Follow Jesus because God changed his very will so that he wanted to do what he didn't used to, hadn't wanted to do and no longer wanted to do what he used to want to do. His will was renewed. He became a new creature in Christ by the work of the Holy Spirit in him. So now he wanted to follow Christ. He got up and followed him.

He turned away from his old way of living. He turned away from his old habits. He had a new principle within him. Instead of serving himself and seeking to get wealth, his goal now was to follow Christ. His goal now was to know Christ, to know his precepts and to walk in his ways, to walk in the way of Christ and not his own.

And so What's the first thing that this Matthew does? It's Matthew who is the great sinner, this tax collector, who because Christ comes and powerfully calls him, becomes Matthew the saint, Matthew the saved. Well, he holds a great feast in his house. And he invites all of his colleagues and friends. And Jesus comes to this feast.

Now Levi or Matthew is not engaging in so much relationship evangelism here. He's not having one last party with all his old friends to say you know we've had good times robbing everybody and oppressing people and now I can't do that anymore So here's one last final hurrah. No, he's not having that kind of a feast. This Matthew, whose will has been changed, whose very desires have been changed, whose heart is different, he's having a feast. He's using his money to invite all of his friends and followers who to come and to hear about Christ.

These are people that he's been talking to about what the Lord has done to him. This didn't happen in a second. You don't have a great feast and have lots of people come to your house in a moment. So this is obviously a little bit later. He's had a chance to talk to these people.

They've heard how He's a different person. He's following Christ now. He's left that tax collecting life. He's invited them to come and hear Christ themselves. Christ has come not to condone these immoral people, because they were.

The Pharisees were right when they said, why are you eating with sinners, with tax collectors? Why are you eating and drinking with these people? They called them sinners and and they were right in that And Jesus didn't didn't correct them. He didn't say no these are really good at heart Didn't say that at all These were sinners. These were wicked people.

They wanted to come and hear Jesus. Matthew spends his money, puts together this great feast in his own house, and he invites all these people, These associates that he used to work with, to come and hear Jesus himself. And Jesus came. He wasn't there to sympathize with these sinners. He wasn't there to affirm them in their sin.

He was there to call them, like he called Levi. He was there to preach to them. This man who had been transformed, who has a new will and a new heart and just completely new desires, He wants for his fellow colleagues to have this same experience. Because he was dead and he's now found life. He was serving himself and blind to the fact that he was miserable and dead.

He thought he was doing a good thing, or he thought he was making it. He was accomplishing something that was going to benefit him. But now his eyes have been opened. He saw his true condition. And he wanted these other colleagues of his to have that same life-changing experience.

And so when the disciples are asked how Jesus can eat and drink with these kinds of sinners, Jesus answers for them. He said, those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick, I have not come to call the righteous. Now Jesus was not saying that there are some people on the earth that are righteous and don't need me. We know that's obviously not true. Jesus told the man that came and called him good, he said, There are none good.

Why are you calling me good? There are none good but God. He talks about you who are evil know how to give good gifts to your children. He didn't say those of you who are, you who are. So Jesus wasn't in saying I've not come to call the righteous.

Jesus was not saying that there are some who are righteous. He was talking in the language of the Pharisees. The Pharisees thought that they were righteous. They tithed of everything they received, even their mint and their cumin. They sacrificed all the sacrifices that they were to offer.

They made all the prayers that they were supposed to make. They went to church every time they were supposed to go to church. They showed up every time the doors were open. They took great pride in the fact that they did all these things. And because they were doing all these things, They thought that they were righteous.

They called themselves righteous. Remember Jesus told the story of the Pharisee and the public and the Pharisee went up to the temple to pray. And his prayer was, I thank you that I'm not like all these other people. I thank you that I'm so good and righteous He didn't think he was a sinner and Needed any kind of a Savior Jesus saying that I haven't I haven't come to call those kind of sinners to repentance I've come to call those who acknowledge their sin to repentance in in Levi's case this was a sudden and wrapped in apparently instantaneous conversion Jesus called him follow me and he left all and followed him. But God works in many different ways.

Sometimes there are those who grow up in a Bible-believing home. And from their youngest years you've heard the scriptures and you've been guided, You've been preserved from great wickedness. You haven't been, you've been trained in the ways of the Lord. You've been taught how to speak. You've been taught how to act.

You've been taught what's right and wrong. And so you've walked in this path and you've come to church most of the time. And you read your Bible sometimes. Or maybe you read it religiously. But if you've never come to see that you're a sinner, if you've never come to see that you're not righteous, despite all the outward things that you might do, If you've never come to see that you're just like this tax collector, that you're just like that leper, that you're just like that paralytic, then you're not in Christ.

No matter how much you might think that you are. Jesus did not come to call the righteous. He didn't come to call those sinners who thought that they were righteous. Jesus calls those who know that they are sinners. That is the work of God's Holy Spirit.

That is what a sexual our eyes to see our own sin and our own depravity and our own corruption. Sometimes when we've grown up in Christian homes, and our conversion has been gradual, because God does convert many through that. That's how Timothy was converted. He was taught from his infancy the scriptures which were able to make him wise into salvation for his mother and his grandmother. But he came to see his own sinfulness.

Sometimes those that have grown up in that way, where it's been a gradual enlightening, a gradual awakening, where maybe you're not even aware of when that time happened. Then we lack the crystallizing event that Levi had here that changed his life so radically in such a short time and caused him to want to tell all of his friends and bring them all to Jesus. But you know that is one of the works of the Holy Spirit. That he not only shows us our sinfulness and enlightens our minds regarding Jesus Christ and changes our wills, but he also gives to us a burden for those who are lost. This is the burden that Jesus has.

He looked around him and he could say the fields are white under the harvest but the laborers are few. Where the Holy Spirit has worked in us and changed us, He gives to us a similar burden like Levi had. A burden that his friends, his colleagues could be changed just as he was. And Jesus said that, I have come to call sinners to repentance. In saying that, Jesus is saying a lot.

We don't talk about ourselves as having come. We talk about ourselves as being born. Because before we are conceived we don't exist. So we really don't come from anywhere. But Jesus saying, I have come.

Where did he come? He came from heaven. He, without losing anything that he had, took to himself a human nature, human flesh, became like us so that he could call sinners to repentance. If we're going to come to Christ, We must come flat on our face, recognizing that we are in actual fact totally helpless, totally corrupted, that our goals are all wrong, that our motivations are all wrong, that everything that we are doing apart from Christ is wrong, that we're living for the wrong ends, the wrong goals, we're living our lives by the wrong standard, and that we are helpless sinners. It's these, it's those who see themselves like that, those who are, As Jesus said, poor in spirit.

It's these that Jesus comes to bring to repentance, and to bring effectually and powerfully and infallibly to repentance. I pray this morning that if you have never seen yourself as this kind of sinner, that Jesus has come to call, that you will call upon him today. Because whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved. Whoever believes in him shall not perish but will have everlasting life. Whoever believes in him will receive the remission of sins.

That is the gospel promise. That is the truth of the Word of God. Let us pray. Almighty Heavenly Father, we thank you that you have come to call sinners to repentance. We thank you that you became flesh and you have dwelt among us, That you have endured all that we suffer, in order that you might can sympathize with us in our weaknesses.

In order that you can offer an acceptable sacrifice for our sin. We thank you and we bless your name and we ask, Lord, that you would Give to us a burden as Levi had for those who do not know you. Through Jesus Christ we ask. Amen. Psalm 56